Especially for rolling-element bearings that have very large dimensions, such as e.g., rolling-element bearings used in wind turbines, a long trouble-free operation and thus a long lifespan or service life of the rolling-element bearing is required in view of the high costs of the rolling-element bearing itself and the high costs caused by a shutdown of large-scale systems equipped with such bearings.
However, in systems that utilize very large rolling-element bearings, extreme peak load conditions sometimes occur, particularly under the effect of vibrations, which cannot be handled by simply scaling up the design of standard bearings. Rather, it has been necessary to furnish the bearing with exceptional material properties that are tailored to the expected load profile.